In a surprising move, the CDC's vaccine advisory committee faced a wave of criticism after attorney Aaron Siri, who's known for taking legal action against federal vaccine policies, gave a presentation on childhood vaccination schedules.
Siri is a managing partner at Siri & Glimstad and has ties to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., having worked on Kennedy's presidential campaign. He had originally been taken off the agenda due to internal concerns about his appropriateness as a speaker, given his firm's ongoing lawsuits against the agency.
Allowing him to speak caused an immediate backlash, including from Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor and the chair of the Senate health committee.
Cassidy claimed that Siri's participation "totally discredited" the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, noting that Siri positions himself as an expert while actively opposing vaccine policies a point that Siri contested.
This incident happened while ACIP was considering a recommendation to delay the hepatitis B birth dose for infants born to mothers who test negative for the virus, suggesting that vaccination shouldn't start before two months of age.
The committee pointed to supposed gaps in safety and effectiveness data, but some members disagreed, arguing there's no evidence to support delaying early protection.
Cassidy called on the acting CDC director to reject this new recommendation, warning it could undo years of progress in preventing infections among newborns. Typically, the CDC goes along with ACIP recommendations but has the final say.
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